


I'm not Jealous

by sleepylesbian



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode Related, Episode: s02e19 Critical Film Studies, Feelings Realization, Getting Together, It just takes him a minute to realise is all, Jealousy, M/M, Troy Barnes is a man in love, Troy Centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 09:34:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24847639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepylesbian/pseuds/sleepylesbian
Summary: “Jeff’s not better than me.”“Hmm?”“I said, hmm.”Troy doesn’t entirely know where it comes from at first but the more he looks at the suitcase the stronger the uncomfortable feeling in his stomach becomes. Abed is HIS best friend, not Jeff’s, all Jeff had to do was go get Abed for his surprise party and instead he’s spending time with him alone? It doesn’t sit right with Troy, not one bit. It only takes him like ten minutes to figure out he’s actually jealous of the former lawyer and not sick from the questionable sandwich he’d had this morning.
Relationships: Troy Barnes/Abed Nadir
Comments: 17
Kudos: 178





	I'm not Jealous

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!
> 
> This is my first try on a trobed fic so please forgive me if its garbage, I just love these boys lots and wanted to share one of my many many headcanons of them with y'all! 
> 
> Not betaread bc we die like the disaster gays we are here so pls just leave a comment if the grammar is all messy and I'll fix it!

“Jeff’s not better than me.”

“Hmm?”

“I said, hmm.”

Troy doesn’t entirely know where it comes from at first but the more he looks at the suitcase the stronger the uncomfortable feeling in his stomach becomes. Abed is HIS best friend, not Jeff’s, all Jeff had to do was go get Abed for his surprise party and instead he’s spending time with him alone? It doesn’t sit right with Troy, not one bit. It only takes him like ten minutes to figure out he’s actually _jealous_ of the former lawyer and _not_ sick from the questionable sandwich he’d had this morning.

When it comes to jealousy it isn’t like it’s a new feeling to the football player. He’s been jealous plenty, just on a smaller scale is all. Like the time he got jealous Abed liked Shirley’s homemade sandwich so much he made a tiny moaning sound when eating, not that Troy was listening intently or anything. Or the time when Britta made Abed laugh so hard with an unintentional Cougar Town reference that he’d snorted water through his nose. It was fine, Troy had been the one helping him dry up and loaned him that extra sweater he always had with him for extra cold days. 

Actually when it came to the last incident Troy’s jealousy hadn’t even lasted that long, once Abed had changed into Troy’s very much dry red hoodie and was fiddling with the sleeves to make those cute sweater paws he has sometimes. -He’d told Troy once his hands tend to get cold, in a matter of factly voice but just quiet enough for nobody else to hear around the table.- At the time that had just made Troy all warm and fuzzy inside, like he was drunk without drinking, it was weird.

This time he felt sick to his stomach, to the point where Troy wondered how far he could get to the restaurant before the rest of the group would be on to him. He snuck a glance at Annie who was only moving her eyes between the clock on the wall and the front door and decided probably not very. 

All he could think about was Jeff being alone with Abed in a fancy restaurant, drinking no-no juice and laughing. Moving in closer when Abed looked away… Sneaking a hand over his shoulders and using Abed’s surprise at the touch to lean in and- 

“Oh my god.” 

Annie looked up alarmed and Troy realized he’d once again not filtered his sudden thoughts. 

“I uh, I parked by a meter,” he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, swallowing all the feelings he wanted to puke out like word vomit.

To her credit Annie only looked at him for a second and then rolled her eyes playfully. “Of course you did.” She shook her head and got up to ask Britta how much longer they had the restaurant for before she would get in real trouble with her boss. Leaving Troy to rethink all his interactions with his best friend of the last two years.

There had always been attraction from his side, but in a ‘this boy is really cute and funny and I need to be his friend’ kind of way not ‘I want to have his babies’ which, oh god did Troy want to have Abed’s babies? Could he? Obviously not in the having sex and getting pregnant way, unless there was something sex-ed had like done a summersault over, but Abed would be a good dad Troy thought and- this is getting out of hand. 

Placing his hands firmly on the table top to ground himself, Troy caught the suitcase in his peripheral and felt himself straighten up automatically. It may have taken Troy two years but he is still in love with Abed and there is No Way he is letting Jeff try to steal him away from him, as soon as they both get here Troy is going to figure out how to tell his best friend his true feelings, or at the very least get him away from Jeff for the rest of the night. 

_-a long ass time later-_

Okay so maybe this wasn’t going to be so simple after all. Especially after the very unhelpful jab from Chang, why is he even here?? Nothing is supposed to end up in flames or in a real police station! It had been easier at first to ignore the short man but he just wouldn’t let up!

“-He’s with your boy right now having a fancy dinner. Baby chickens, diamond forks, brand-name sodas. Then he’s gonna bring him back here, give him whatever’s in there and that’s that. Troy who?” 

Changs taunting voice ringing in his ears really tipped him over and Troy felt like he couldn’t be blamed for his impulse to snatch the suitcase to see what was in there that could possibly make Abed forget about him completely. He is a man in love after all, with that comes stupid impulses right? 

Troy does wish he hadn’t though. Not only had he found out that the gift was pretty much everything Abed loved, it had also -through no fault of his own- caught fire and so instead of an authentic suitcase from Pulp Fiction it was now a slightly charred suitcase that could’ve been found at a dump if you just knew where to look. 

The small fire also seemed to be Britta’s boss’ last straw and after he fired her they all left in a hurry so Britta could go yell at Jeff, and if Troy is secretly happy about that nobody else has to know so it's okay. Especially since he spends the entire car ride unwillingly coming up with more and more intimate settings they could possibly catch Jeff and Abed in. 

The lump in Troy’s stomach almost dissolves when they get there though and Jeff is just his grumpy self and storms off for some reason. Troy wasn’t really paying attention to anything except Abed in that cardigan. Although, it did give him the perfect opportunity to sneak into the seat next to the taller boy instead of across, make a dumb joke about Jeff and Abed getting along he doesn’t really mean and steal some of Abed’s no-no juice for courage. 

However, he doesn’t get much further since Abed insists on following the ex-lawyer to the diner and talking to him in private. When he leaves he pats Troy on the shoulder and gives him a thumbs up for his outfit and the fuzzy feelings are back so the football player lets himself fly on that while others talk briefly to Abed and the waiter, and he helps them move all the stuff from the cars into a private room first and then sits down to wait once more for Abed and Jeff to come back. This time he feels more optimistic for some reason, seeing your best friend and crush not kissing your other friend does that he supposes. 

The party they had when the two finally got back was worth the wait and the move and the chaos in Troy’s opinion. Abed seemed genuinely pleased and played along with not knowing what Troy had wrapped in as a present despite Chang’s attempt to ruin that too, a swift kick in the shin had shut him up fast enough thankfully. 

When they all got their milkshakes, Abed let Troy scoot all the way close with a small smile so that their arms brushed whenever they did well, anything really, the fuzzy feelings came back in tenfold and Troy wanted to swim in them forever. 

It wasn’t really until they were all getting ready to leave that the reality of the night hit Troy, and his nerves and all the scary feelings of rejection and whatnot came back times a thousand. 

“Troy?” Troy snaps out of his thoughts to Abed looking at him questioningly, everybody else was on their way out of the restaurant paired up and the football player couldn’t help but feel like he missed something. 

“What’s up?” 

“I asked if you wanted to stay over tonight, I got the new extended version of Kickpuncher 2 we could watch.” 

“Definitely.” Abed smiles that small smile again and Troy tampers down the urge to declare his love in the middle of the restaurant lobby before they make their way to the parking lot after the others.

Driving back to Greendale has never felt so tense before with just the two of them in the car and he is wracking his brain for something cool to say when Abed beats him to it.

“You know Jeff isn’t my best friend right?” The taller boy asks, still looking straight ahead.

“Uh, yeah yeah of course.” Troy tries to smile but it feels more like just a grimace instead.

“I would never replace you. Never.” Troy feels warm all over and really needs to focus on the road before he does something stupid like lean over and kiss his best friend square on the mouth in the middle of traffic.

“I know,” he responds instead, “same goes for you.” 

“Cool. Cool cool cool.” That seems to be enough for the tension to melt away for the moment as Troy sees Abed in his peripheral leaning back against the seat and closing his eyes like he does whenever he’s running through a scenario in his head. It piques the football player’s interest but he lets it go in favor of taking the quickest route back to the school campus so they can get a head start on the movie before Jeff and/or Britta inevitably drunk dials one of them to complain about something dumb. 

Pulling up to the secret spot he and Abed had found one day playing Aliens and Robots, Abed finally opens his eyes again, a small smile gracing his features once more as he looks over at Troy and they unbuckle themselves. 

Abed doesn’t say anything on the way to his room which is more unusual, usually when he runs a new scenario he tells Troy all about it in detail so the football player can be prepared in case it comes true. He doesn’t let himself be concerned though, too caught up in the joy of being alone with the other boy to worry about it. 

“Should we make popcorn and some special drink before the movie? I know we ran out last time but I bought some more earlier today that I stashed in your snack box before class, I was gonna suggest buttered noodles but since we ate at the restaurant popcorn is probably best right now.” he grins and almost walks straight into Abed who’s standing frozen in the middle of the room.

“Abed?” Walking around the taller boy Troy swallows hard when he sees those beautiful brown eyes slightly glazed over. Oh god did he break him? HOW?! 

Just as Troy begins pacing and panicking for real trying to figure out what the hell he said in the last 30 seconds to get his best friend to freeze up like that, Abed jolts back into motion and touches his shoulders lightly to make him stop.

Opening his mouth once and closing it Abed looks at Troy, so intensely it feels like he can see everything that’s going on inside his brain and the shorter boy resists the urge to tell him to get out of it. 

“I’m in love with you,” Troy surprises himself at the outburst. He really hadn’t planned on this _before_ the movie. To his even greater surprise though, Abed only tilts his head slightly and smiles again before doing something incredible. 

Abed _kisses_ him, square on the mouth. It’s soft and messy but also the best kiss Troy has _ever_ had so he doesn’t really mind. In fact, he may or may not whine a little bit when Abed pulls away, something that makes the taller boy let out a breathless chuckle.

“I’m in love with you too Troy.” he says, matter of factly and really Troy feels like he could fly for real, like he could climb on top of the roof like batman and just fly into the night like a, well a bat technically but who cares about the details. 

Smiling big and drowning in the sweet feelings of love he holds out his hands for their handshake; “Boyfriends?” 

Abed looks at him once more, his own smile widening and he copies the football player’s stance; “Boyfriends.” he grins and they do their handshake before Troy leans in for another kiss that is wonderfully reciprocated. Best failed surprise party ever. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!! 
> 
> English is NOT my first language so I'm sorry for any mistakes in that department, again feel free to comment and I'll keep it in mind for whenever I write again! 
> 
> Also if you're up for it pls let me know what you think! I'm very hesitant to write this pairing bc I love them so much and I'm worried I don't do them justice heh. 
> 
> Anyways, thank you!! Have a wonderful morning/day/evening/night!!


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